Back to the point, I now present to you, a plot crafted by a friend of mine, who saw a lot more promise in this movie than I did, how a version of "Man of Steel" that could have worked.
Elements to Keep: Zod being the villain, Lois finding out Clark’s
identity at the start, and Superman having an origin story with an actual story
arc, that being helping people understand why he does what he does.
Metropolis, and a disaster is occurring. Lois Lane is there, and she sees a blur moving through the city, saving people. Maybe a subway collapses, and she sees this blur saving people. So, now Lois has a mystery to try and solve. A great story needs to be told.
She does some digging, and finds many other reported sightings of this blur when tragedy strikes, and not just in Metropolis. He’s been doing his thing all over the world, saving people from natural disasters and crimes all over the world. Thus, this gives Lois Lane a reason to be in this story. Essentially, Lois would be the audience surrogate. We learn everything through her eyes, as both she and us are introduced into this otherworldly tale.
During one of the disasters, she actually runs into Superman. She asks who he is, and he says he’s just here to help, and leaves without another word. Naturally, this just motivates Lois to try even harder. Also, he doesn’t have the costume yet, which will come into play later on. For now, he’s wearing skin tight, fire repellent, maybe hazmat-like suit, just something practical for him to wear that also hides who he is.
We then find out why he’s wearing this as he pauses and takes a breath high above the city, and his clothes are on fire. He moves so fast that his clothes burst into flames. We then see him visit his mom, who is worried about him. While she’s obviously proud of him, saving people is all he does. She tells him that he needs to stop and think about himself for a change. However, the scene ends when he hears someone screaming for help, making his mom sad as he leaves.
Back with Lois, she begins piecing it together, discovering moments of the mysterious blur, ranging all the way back to Smallville. Eventually, she learns of Martha through one of those reports, and travels to Smallville to speak with her. She tries to get the truth, and she’s persistent, but then Clark shows up. He’s got the glasses on, but she doesn’t buy it. She knows that it’s him, and she wants to know who he is, what he is, and why he is helping so many people. After a funny back and forth with so many excuses given about how ridiculous Lois’ ideas are, Lois points out that after Batman showed up in Gotham, people are willing to believe in a lot of things.
Finally, Clark even goes so far as to attempt to intimidate her, but once again, Lois doesn’t buy it for a second. She can tell he’s not going to hurt her. He visibly deflates as she knows that he’s not a bad guy. She then starts to bring up the first report of him in action, which was of him at the Smallville hospital with a certain farmer. That makes him scream at her, now very upset, saying “This interview is over! Print whatever you want!” Fed up, he flies away. Martha just sighs and makes Lois some tea.
She explains what happened with Clark’s father. They always knew that he was special when they found him in the ship, and that he could do incredible things, and that made them proud. One day though, while Clark is working in the field with his dad, he can hear his dad’s heart beating erratically. He rushes to his father who falls. He grabs him and flies him to the hospital to save him…but he’s too late. That’s actually how he learns how to fly…but also that he cannot save everybody.
As this is going on, out in space, a giant ship is heading for Earth. Superman is off, trying to do all that he can like before. Suddenly, he hears this ringing noise saying “All Kryptonians, this is a message for all from Krypton. We are coming!” It’s just something that Clark can hear. But then, the ship appears over Metropolis. Coming out of the ship is Zod. He doesn’t say anything, just looks around him, and Superman confronts him. Now the world sees him to as the two stare each other down. Zod then bursts into tears and hugs Superman….?!
He proclaims that he knew he was not the last one. Zod is the only one on the ship, and for the past 25 years, he has been searching for any other survivors from Krypton. He has nearly been driven insane by his isolation. This makes him a sympathetic and very tragic figure for when things go bad.
He then takes Clark to the ship, and explains everything to him. Clark knows that he’s an alien because of his rocket, but Zod tells him the rest of the story, about the loss of Krypton and his parents. That recounting effects both Clark and Zod deeply. We then learn that Zod was actually close friend with Jor-El, saying that they made quite the duo; the science and the military team. Zod was even going to be Kal-El’s godfather.
We then get to see more of them interacting, as Zod tries to teach Superman about Kryptonian culture, and even saying that they should leave the Earth. Here’s where things go bad. Zod admits Kal’s attempts to help the tiny ants are admirable, but he says it’s useless, and that they should try and bring their society back. This puzzles Clark, since he naturally points out that everyone is dead, but Zod says he will explain later. Before he leaves though, he sees Clarks clothes are burning, so Zod gives him an old relic; a uniform that shows that he is the house of El. Zod even says that they used to have these red trunks, which Clark and him agree would look rather silly. However, Clark does admit that the cape is pretty cool.
At that time, Lois releases her story; the flying man in front of the ship is the blur, BUT she leaves out who he really is. So, now Clark no longer has to work in secret, and he asks her why she didn’t reveal his identity. She then explains that while she believes in the truth, she also believes he is entitled to his privacy, and she won’t say a word. Clark then talks to her about Zod and his uncertainty. Lois says if he is uncertain about Zod, then he should put some distance between the two of them.
The ship is still floating above the city, and since Zod never contacted anyone else, no one else knows what’s the full story. Thus, the reaction down below is like in Independence Day when people reacted to those ships. General chaos all around.
Lois then gets a call from Martha, asking if Clark is there. Zod has come to the farm. A little concerned, Clark races to the house, and finds Zod VERY AWKWARDLY having tea with Martha. Yes, General Zod is seriously having tea with Superman’s mom….just try and picture that without cracking up. He then tells Clark that there is no time to waste. It’s time for them to return as many people as they can. It’s time to open up the Phantom Zone.
He doesn’t tell Clark that the zone is prison, just saying that their people are locked away in that dimension. However, it only takes two Kryptonians, one military, and one science, to place their hands on the ship’s console to activate it. Being Jor-El’s son, Clark can take his place. Clark is tricked into doing this, seeing Zod as a mentor and a friend. They go onto the ship and open the zone. Now, we don’t see what’s through the gate, but we Clark get a horrified expression on his face. He pulls his hands off, but not before two familiar faces emerge. Zod then runs up to them, arms wide, filled with joy, he’s so happy to see more of his people. Then, they backhand him right out of the ship.
Spoilers, Zod has been to many star systems with yellow son, and Kryptonians are fully aware of what yellow son does to them. They just need a small taste to gain their powers, a fact that Faora and Non are all too eager to exploit.
Those two then go berserk, bursting through the ship and through the city. The military try to stop them, but nothing they try hurts them. Clark tries to distract them and get them away from the city, but they keep coming back. Half of the battle is him trying to save people and trying to keep the city from falling apart.
Just as it looks like he’s about to die as they gang up on him, Zod appears and snaps Non’s neck. He then grabs Faora, but she’s snarling mad and keeps resisting him. He then uses his heat vision to lobotomize her. Suffice it to say, Clark is not happy, and Zod makes it worse by brushing it off, saying that they have to open up the gate again. The time trapped in the Phantom Zone has made many Kryptonians insane, but he’s sure that some of them will be fine. Plus, he wants them out before the actual monsters in there kill him.
Zod reveals that he was supposed to be sent to the zone before Krypton was about to be destroyed. He wanted to go public with the truth of the planet’s fate, and he killed those who were in his way. Of course, this is confession, so he’s an unreliable narrator.
Clark flies away, with Lois soon tracking him down. Then, much to her shock, Clark begins to weep. Zod lied to him, his people are truly gone, and so many humans got hurt because he trusted Zod. He cries, and Lois is there for him.
Back on the ship, Zod finds dark whispers buzzing into his ears. He’s hearing voices in his head as he now finally loses his mind. He then blames the humans for what has happened, saying they are unworthy of Clark, and they do not deserve to exist with so much joy and happiness since Krypton is gone.
Leaving the ship, Zod confronts Clark, asking him for help once again. Clark outright refuses, but Zod says if he doesn’t, more will suffer. He just activated the ship’s attack mode function. The ship begins raining down destruction upon the city. Enraged, Clark attacks, but Zod overpowers him through hand to hand combat. Zod is a better fighter, and he blames Clark for what is happening. Lois tries to remind him that Clark is one of his people. Zod grabs Lois by the neck, which makes Superman go berserk. Now seeing that Clark is stronger through the extra solar radiation, he flees back to his ship, with Superman right on his tail.
Superman assaults the ship, disabling it and the weapons. It falls, but Superman uses all his might to keep it from flattening the entire city. Once it is safely on the ground, Clark goes into the ship to confront Zod. Zod is now in a space suit, saying that this should never have happened, and says Kal is too much like Jor-El. Zod then reveals that he is holding Kryptonite, explaining what it is. He says that one way or another, Kal will live in a world ruled by Kryptonians. He then makes Clark open the zone again.
What then comes out is too big to be a Kryptonian. It’s wrapped in cloth, and you can see bony protrusions coming out of its body. Whatever the monster is, it grabs Zod and begins to smash him into the ground. Superman summons enough strength to heat ray the Kryptonite, and he and Zod force the monster back into the zone. They can’t fight it, they don’t even try, just pushing as hard as they can to force it back to its prison. That however causes too much strain on the Phantom Zone gate which overloads, and the ship explodes.
So Superman escapes, carrying Zod out with him. Zod is shocked that he has been saved, echoing his words before that he is some much like his father. We then reveal that during the fight, Zod was stabbed by Doomsday, and he’s dying. He tells Clark he was wrong, and that he can honor Krypton by protecting this world. Although he cannot see what is so special about this world and its people, he knows Clark will discover it. And thus, Zod dies.
Clark wraps Zod’s body in his cape, and lifts it up to space. He sends Zod’s body adrift into the unknown, and returns to Earth, unsure of what to do now. Lois finds him yet again, and there’s a joke that he needs to be less predictable because she keeps locating him. His name is then coined as a joke, since that’s what people are calling him. Bantering back and forth, Clark says he doesn’t feel like a superman. He couldn’t save everyone, and he wonders what the point is. Lois laughs and tells him to stop talking and listen. He hears the people in the city thanking him, and showing that they are grateful for what he has done.
Lois hands him back his cape, and says he can still make his father proud. He can protect the world. He flies off, towards someone’s cry for help, ready to be the hero the world deserves.
Mid-Credit Scene: Scientists are going through the wreckage of the alien ship, finding bits of the zone projector. After that, one of them then says that Mr. Luthor will be very happy about this.
Metropolis, and a disaster is occurring. Lois Lane is there, and she sees a blur moving through the city, saving people. Maybe a subway collapses, and she sees this blur saving people. So, now Lois has a mystery to try and solve. A great story needs to be told.
She does some digging, and finds many other reported sightings of this blur when tragedy strikes, and not just in Metropolis. He’s been doing his thing all over the world, saving people from natural disasters and crimes all over the world. Thus, this gives Lois Lane a reason to be in this story. Essentially, Lois would be the audience surrogate. We learn everything through her eyes, as both she and us are introduced into this otherworldly tale.
During one of the disasters, she actually runs into Superman. She asks who he is, and he says he’s just here to help, and leaves without another word. Naturally, this just motivates Lois to try even harder. Also, he doesn’t have the costume yet, which will come into play later on. For now, he’s wearing skin tight, fire repellent, maybe hazmat-like suit, just something practical for him to wear that also hides who he is.
We then find out why he’s wearing this as he pauses and takes a breath high above the city, and his clothes are on fire. He moves so fast that his clothes burst into flames. We then see him visit his mom, who is worried about him. While she’s obviously proud of him, saving people is all he does. She tells him that he needs to stop and think about himself for a change. However, the scene ends when he hears someone screaming for help, making his mom sad as he leaves.
Back with Lois, she begins piecing it together, discovering moments of the mysterious blur, ranging all the way back to Smallville. Eventually, she learns of Martha through one of those reports, and travels to Smallville to speak with her. She tries to get the truth, and she’s persistent, but then Clark shows up. He’s got the glasses on, but she doesn’t buy it. She knows that it’s him, and she wants to know who he is, what he is, and why he is helping so many people. After a funny back and forth with so many excuses given about how ridiculous Lois’ ideas are, Lois points out that after Batman showed up in Gotham, people are willing to believe in a lot of things.
Finally, Clark even goes so far as to attempt to intimidate her, but once again, Lois doesn’t buy it for a second. She can tell he’s not going to hurt her. He visibly deflates as she knows that he’s not a bad guy. She then starts to bring up the first report of him in action, which was of him at the Smallville hospital with a certain farmer. That makes him scream at her, now very upset, saying “This interview is over! Print whatever you want!” Fed up, he flies away. Martha just sighs and makes Lois some tea.
She explains what happened with Clark’s father. They always knew that he was special when they found him in the ship, and that he could do incredible things, and that made them proud. One day though, while Clark is working in the field with his dad, he can hear his dad’s heart beating erratically. He rushes to his father who falls. He grabs him and flies him to the hospital to save him…but he’s too late. That’s actually how he learns how to fly…but also that he cannot save everybody.
As this is going on, out in space, a giant ship is heading for Earth. Superman is off, trying to do all that he can like before. Suddenly, he hears this ringing noise saying “All Kryptonians, this is a message for all from Krypton. We are coming!” It’s just something that Clark can hear. But then, the ship appears over Metropolis. Coming out of the ship is Zod. He doesn’t say anything, just looks around him, and Superman confronts him. Now the world sees him to as the two stare each other down. Zod then bursts into tears and hugs Superman….?!
He proclaims that he knew he was not the last one. Zod is the only one on the ship, and for the past 25 years, he has been searching for any other survivors from Krypton. He has nearly been driven insane by his isolation. This makes him a sympathetic and very tragic figure for when things go bad.
He then takes Clark to the ship, and explains everything to him. Clark knows that he’s an alien because of his rocket, but Zod tells him the rest of the story, about the loss of Krypton and his parents. That recounting effects both Clark and Zod deeply. We then learn that Zod was actually close friend with Jor-El, saying that they made quite the duo; the science and the military team. Zod was even going to be Kal-El’s godfather.
We then get to see more of them interacting, as Zod tries to teach Superman about Kryptonian culture, and even saying that they should leave the Earth. Here’s where things go bad. Zod admits Kal’s attempts to help the tiny ants are admirable, but he says it’s useless, and that they should try and bring their society back. This puzzles Clark, since he naturally points out that everyone is dead, but Zod says he will explain later. Before he leaves though, he sees Clarks clothes are burning, so Zod gives him an old relic; a uniform that shows that he is the house of El. Zod even says that they used to have these red trunks, which Clark and him agree would look rather silly. However, Clark does admit that the cape is pretty cool.
At that time, Lois releases her story; the flying man in front of the ship is the blur, BUT she leaves out who he really is. So, now Clark no longer has to work in secret, and he asks her why she didn’t reveal his identity. She then explains that while she believes in the truth, she also believes he is entitled to his privacy, and she won’t say a word. Clark then talks to her about Zod and his uncertainty. Lois says if he is uncertain about Zod, then he should put some distance between the two of them.
The ship is still floating above the city, and since Zod never contacted anyone else, no one else knows what’s the full story. Thus, the reaction down below is like in Independence Day when people reacted to those ships. General chaos all around.
Lois then gets a call from Martha, asking if Clark is there. Zod has come to the farm. A little concerned, Clark races to the house, and finds Zod VERY AWKWARDLY having tea with Martha. Yes, General Zod is seriously having tea with Superman’s mom….just try and picture that without cracking up. He then tells Clark that there is no time to waste. It’s time for them to return as many people as they can. It’s time to open up the Phantom Zone.
He doesn’t tell Clark that the zone is prison, just saying that their people are locked away in that dimension. However, it only takes two Kryptonians, one military, and one science, to place their hands on the ship’s console to activate it. Being Jor-El’s son, Clark can take his place. Clark is tricked into doing this, seeing Zod as a mentor and a friend. They go onto the ship and open the zone. Now, we don’t see what’s through the gate, but we Clark get a horrified expression on his face. He pulls his hands off, but not before two familiar faces emerge. Zod then runs up to them, arms wide, filled with joy, he’s so happy to see more of his people. Then, they backhand him right out of the ship.
Spoilers, Zod has been to many star systems with yellow son, and Kryptonians are fully aware of what yellow son does to them. They just need a small taste to gain their powers, a fact that Faora and Non are all too eager to exploit.
Those two then go berserk, bursting through the ship and through the city. The military try to stop them, but nothing they try hurts them. Clark tries to distract them and get them away from the city, but they keep coming back. Half of the battle is him trying to save people and trying to keep the city from falling apart.
Just as it looks like he’s about to die as they gang up on him, Zod appears and snaps Non’s neck. He then grabs Faora, but she’s snarling mad and keeps resisting him. He then uses his heat vision to lobotomize her. Suffice it to say, Clark is not happy, and Zod makes it worse by brushing it off, saying that they have to open up the gate again. The time trapped in the Phantom Zone has made many Kryptonians insane, but he’s sure that some of them will be fine. Plus, he wants them out before the actual monsters in there kill him.
Zod reveals that he was supposed to be sent to the zone before Krypton was about to be destroyed. He wanted to go public with the truth of the planet’s fate, and he killed those who were in his way. Of course, this is confession, so he’s an unreliable narrator.
Clark flies away, with Lois soon tracking him down. Then, much to her shock, Clark begins to weep. Zod lied to him, his people are truly gone, and so many humans got hurt because he trusted Zod. He cries, and Lois is there for him.
Back on the ship, Zod finds dark whispers buzzing into his ears. He’s hearing voices in his head as he now finally loses his mind. He then blames the humans for what has happened, saying they are unworthy of Clark, and they do not deserve to exist with so much joy and happiness since Krypton is gone.
Leaving the ship, Zod confronts Clark, asking him for help once again. Clark outright refuses, but Zod says if he doesn’t, more will suffer. He just activated the ship’s attack mode function. The ship begins raining down destruction upon the city. Enraged, Clark attacks, but Zod overpowers him through hand to hand combat. Zod is a better fighter, and he blames Clark for what is happening. Lois tries to remind him that Clark is one of his people. Zod grabs Lois by the neck, which makes Superman go berserk. Now seeing that Clark is stronger through the extra solar radiation, he flees back to his ship, with Superman right on his tail.
Superman assaults the ship, disabling it and the weapons. It falls, but Superman uses all his might to keep it from flattening the entire city. Once it is safely on the ground, Clark goes into the ship to confront Zod. Zod is now in a space suit, saying that this should never have happened, and says Kal is too much like Jor-El. Zod then reveals that he is holding Kryptonite, explaining what it is. He says that one way or another, Kal will live in a world ruled by Kryptonians. He then makes Clark open the zone again.
What then comes out is too big to be a Kryptonian. It’s wrapped in cloth, and you can see bony protrusions coming out of its body. Whatever the monster is, it grabs Zod and begins to smash him into the ground. Superman summons enough strength to heat ray the Kryptonite, and he and Zod force the monster back into the zone. They can’t fight it, they don’t even try, just pushing as hard as they can to force it back to its prison. That however causes too much strain on the Phantom Zone gate which overloads, and the ship explodes.
So Superman escapes, carrying Zod out with him. Zod is shocked that he has been saved, echoing his words before that he is some much like his father. We then reveal that during the fight, Zod was stabbed by Doomsday, and he’s dying. He tells Clark he was wrong, and that he can honor Krypton by protecting this world. Although he cannot see what is so special about this world and its people, he knows Clark will discover it. And thus, Zod dies.
Clark wraps Zod’s body in his cape, and lifts it up to space. He sends Zod’s body adrift into the unknown, and returns to Earth, unsure of what to do now. Lois finds him yet again, and there’s a joke that he needs to be less predictable because she keeps locating him. His name is then coined as a joke, since that’s what people are calling him. Bantering back and forth, Clark says he doesn’t feel like a superman. He couldn’t save everyone, and he wonders what the point is. Lois laughs and tells him to stop talking and listen. He hears the people in the city thanking him, and showing that they are grateful for what he has done.
Lois hands him back his cape, and says he can still make his father proud. He can protect the world. He flies off, towards someone’s cry for help, ready to be the hero the world deserves.
Mid-Credit Scene: Scientists are going through the wreckage of the alien ship, finding bits of the zone projector. After that, one of them then says that Mr. Luthor will be very happy about this.
I like the script you wrote, the plot of zod being a psuedo-friendly was a nice read and would have brought about a nice twist to the story
ReplyDelete